'This Week' Transcript: O'Donnell and Coons

(UNKNOWN): A big part of this has to do with longevity. Women are
still living longer than men.

(UNKNOWN): OK, got to run.

AMANPOUR: Karen Parks (ph) understood her 80-year-old mother losing
her memory, but her world came to a screeching halt when her 56-year-old
husband Jerry was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

K. PARKS (ph): I could see myself sitting there. I thought to
myself, "Should I be putting my arm around my husband? Am I hearing
this right?" I mean, it just absolutely stops you cold.

AMANPOUR: With his lifelong passion for woodwork and building,
Jerry was at the top of his career as a successful construction
executive, only to be laid off when his memory began to fail.

J. PARKS (ph): I looked at the doctor. I said, "You know, I had
rheumatic fever when I was little kid, and I beat that." And I said,
"I'll beat this one, too." (inaudible) and he said, you know -- he
said, "You really won't."

AMANPOUR: With two of their four children still at home, they were
forced to downsize, and Karen (ph) went back to work as a teacher after
a 20-year absence.

K. PARKS (ph): He was my rock. He was the breadwinner. And I'm
having to take on some of that. I miss the Jerry and Karen (ph) of
before.

J. PARKS (ph): All I hope is that -- that every year that I have
that I can be as productive as I can be. And I want to enjoy life. I
spent a lot of time focusing on the family and friends and doing the
things I want to do.

AMANPOUR: The debilitating disease affects the patient and the
caregiver, who's more likely to become depressed, have an increase in
heart disease, and six times more susceptible to dementia. These women
caregivers suffer at work, too. Many are forced to go part-time or quit
altogether. Karen says, as Jerry's condition worsens, she'll have to
cut back her hours, and she's not sure how she'll afford the medical bills.

According to "The Shriver Report," the United States will spend an
astounding $20 trillion over the next 40 years treating Alzheimer's.
Current treatments only slow the symptoms of patients like Jerry (ph),
who's in a clinical trial, but he and Karen (ph) both hope the
government will provide more resources for families and more funding to
find a cure.

But for now, they say, they enjoy living in the moment.

K. PARKS (ph): It's very hard to see your loved one that you want
to spend forever with losing parts of things and seeing how frustrated
and hurt they feel when they know they can't do something. Jerry (ph)
and I decided that we're going to make the best of this, and he has a
fabulous attitude.

J. PARKS (ph): (inaudible) grieving, I thought, you know, this
gives me a great opportunity. You know, it gives me time to do the
things I want to do. I think for us to be upbeat, you know, raises our
family and our friends up, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And joining me now, Maria Shriver, the first lady of
California. She's the founder of Woman's Nation, which, with the
Alzheimer's Association, produced the report.

Also, Ann O'Leary, executive director of the Berkeley Center on
Health, Economic and Family Security at U.C. Berkeley and an expert on
women and work.

Thank you both for coming in.

SHRIVER: Thank you for having us.

AMANPOUR: So as always with these cases, it's usually a personal
experience that turns you into an activist.